The Historic Saugeen Metis are marking the 200th anniversary of a significant milestone in their culture by not only educating others, but continuing to learn more about their own history in the region. Members of the local Metis community gathered with many others at Pioneer Park in Southampton for their 10th annual Metis Rendezvous, a celebration of Metis culture and history along the Lake Huron shoreline. “It is amazing what we are still learning,” said Jenna McGuire, a counsellor and culture keeper with the Historic Saugeen Metis. “We then try as much as we can to share our story because it has been a long time of not being able to share it. There are lots of stories to tell.” Patsy McArthur, secretary-treasurer of the HSM, added that they seem to be discovering new information about their ancestors all the time. “We are just discovering the connections and the families and more history,” said McArthur. “It is so hidden.” On Saturday, McGuire was at the Rendezvous telling the story of the Piche Wampum. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the wampum, when in 1818, the local Ojibwe exchanged it with Saugeen’s first known trader Pierre Piche, striking an agreement between the Metis and Ojibwe to share and protect the resources of the land and jointly inhabit the traditional Saugeen territory. “It is a really important piece of our history that we are definitely celebrating after two centuries,” said McGuire. “Wampum are memory devices. They help to remember the agreement and it is important to keep the memory alive.” While reproductions of the Piche wampum have been made in the time since the exchange – including a replica that sits in the HSM office in Southampton — the location of the original wampum is unknown. McGuire explained that in 1904 it was donated to what was then Ontario’s provincial museum. The HSM has contacted the Royal Ontario Museum – which is what the provincial museum became in 1912 – but it has been unable to locate the wampum. “We are not sure where it went, but I have been digging and looking for it,” said McGuire. “What I have found is that Victorian museums made a lot of what they call cultural exchanges. “It seems kind of insane to us now, but if they had doubles of anything they would swap with another colonial museum.” McGuire has found a letter by the curator of the museum at the time the wampum was believed to have been in its possession, and it says that he had arranged to make such an exchange with other British museums. “I don’t know if it is in one of those museums, if it got thrown away when one of the museums switched or if it is indeed at the ROM,” said McGuire. “Often museums have a lot of stuff, so they might still unearth it there.” McGuire said there was a time after Canada became a country that the government didn’t respect agreements between indigenous peoples, and the wampum wasn’t held to the same value as it was by the indigenous peoples. McGuire said finding the original Piche Wampum would be very special for the local Metis. “It really held important value to indigenous people so a lot of indigenous cultures throughout North America are looking to repatriate their wampum from a whole number of collections,” said McGuire. “Unfortunately some of them aren’t even labelled anymore.” Secretary-treasurer McArthur said it is special to be able to celebrate their 10th annual Rendezvous, which included fiddle music by Shane Cook and friends, an outpost with everything from furs and powder horns to knives and bowls, vendors selling traditional jewelry and books, and a kids craft where youngsters could make their very own wampum. McArthur said it has grown significantly over the years and has become quite popular in the community. “Various history has been forgotten and it is a great part of the community’s past,” said McArthur. “We have been here for 200 years and it is important we have this to let people know that.” The Historic Saugeen Metis is a distinctive aboriginal community that descended from the union of European settlers and native women. Their community, according to the organization, covers more than 275 kilometres of shoreline from Tobermory to south of Goderich. Saugeen was once the site of the most southerly trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which was formed to exploit the fur trade in the Hudson’s Bay watershed. McArthur said the ground where Pioneer Park now sits was actual unpatented Metis land. “They never got their patents from the government,” said McArthur. “When the government and settlements took over it was just the time when the government was saying ‘no Metis in Ontario.’” McArthur said she is optimistic that with all that is being done, the story of her people won’t be forgotten again. “I can see the new generation is taking it up. I have all my grandchildren here today who are young adults, and there are others who are carrying it on,” said McArthur. “It is great. We are so proud of what our ancestors did.”